


Two Bat-Boys

by Zappy



Series: Crimson Spade [15]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-06
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-29 19:54:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7697428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zappy/pseuds/Zappy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Earth-1 collides with Earth-696, with interesting results.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Bat-Boys

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt was canon!Bats meeting CS!Bats & CS!Hood.
> 
> This is pretty far into the CS timeline, taking place in Year Twelve

Earth 1 - Gotham Streets

   Batman has fought many enemies before. Including his own inner demons. He’s fought aliens, and gods, and megalomaniacs. He’s even fought someone claiming to be his brother. So fighting _himself from another world_ … shouldn’t be as surprising as it ends up being.

   “Give it up, _Bat_ man. I know all your moves before you’ll make them.” The impostor in an owl-shaped black suit called at him with a satisfied smirk.

   “Shouldn’t that road be a two-way street?” Batman countered as he blocked a punch.

   “No, because you lack _imagination_.”

   The next thing he knew, there was a flash, and the device Owlman had been holding was pointed at him and the ground vanished from under him. Before he was completely engulfed by the void he heard his own laughter twisted into insanity.

~~

Earth 696 - Gotham Streets

   Batman tumbled forward in the dark alleyway. Looking up he couldn’t see Owlman, and wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a _very bad_ thing. Glancing around him he noticed he was exactly where they had been fighting, with the distinct difference of him now being alone.

   Well, he wouldn’t find Owlman if he stayed down here, so he pulled out his grappling hook to swing himself up to the rooftops for a better view. Once he was there he noticed a dark form running just a few streets away. _Owlman_.

   Taking off in a sprint, he vaulted after the figure. Just as he was about to tackle the man down, something else collided with his side. He caught a flash of red before the wind left his chest as he landed on the rough rooftop.

   “Don’t you know it’s impolite to attempt to sucker punch someone?” a voice scolded him with a playful tone.

   A _familiar_ playful tone.

   Well shit. Now of all times.

   Scrambling to his feet, he turned to face his most troublesome rogue. Of _course_ he would find out Owlman was here, and of _course_ he’d team up with the man against him.

   “Joker!”

   Although, he didn’t look like Joker normally did. He was back in a black suit instead of his signature purple, with a red cape and an achingly familiar red mask. “Feeling nostalgic again, Joker? I thought you didn’t like to repeat tricks.”

   Joker put his hands on his hips, and while the last time he’d faced the man like this he knew the moment Harley moved that it wasn’t Joker, this one was most definitely Joker. No one _quite_ moved like he did. Widening his stance in preparedness for a fight, he watched and waited for the sign of Joker’s next move.

   “Ya know, I know I’ve been getting a reputation lately as a comedian, but I’m pretty sure I haven’t changed my name.” As if that sentence didn’t confuse him enough, the man tilted his head back and called, “Bats? Did I change my name and forget about it?”

   “No Hood.”

   Spinning around, he saw the figure he’d been chasing. Only… he wasn’t wearing Owlman’s suit. It _was_ black, but this man’s suit looked eerily like his own. Keeping his defensive position, he swiftly looked back and forth between the Red-Hood-wearing-Joker, and the _Maybe_ -not-Owlman.

   The sound of a sharp clap of gloved hands pulled his attention back to Red-Hood-wearing-Joker, who he could tell from his body language was smiling under his face mask. “Oh good! Then I can make proper introductions without worrying about getting it wrong. So, first things first. I am Red Hood, you _must_ know this is Batman. Now… who are you?”

   There was a very long pause as Batman tried to digest the situation. “Batman.”

   Red Hood sighed dramatically, fluidly pulling out what appeared to be a sharpened red spade. “Yes we’ve _established_ that. It was _your_ turn to introduce yourself. I need a name to put in the memo.”

  Squaring his shoulders and slightly dropping his arms, he repeated himself. “ _I am_ Batman.”

   Silence reigned for a solid minute. Then the sound of hysterical laughter pierced the air and mirror faces turned to the one in red. One in confusion, the other in concern.

   “Hood!” barked out Probably-not-Owlman.

   Maybe-Red-Hood-wearing-Joker brought up both hands to press to the front of his mask, his laughter dying down to muffled chuckles. After a moment he managed to speak through them, “S-sorry. Sorry. Ahhaha… it’s just… _two_ Batman? Bat _men_? Oh I can’t contain myself. I’ve _dreamed_ of this.”

   Batman didn’t know what was more disturbing about that declaration. The implications of it, or Most-likely-Batman’s response. The man’s shoulders slumped a fraction and he let out a smile. A _smile_. And then he opened his mouth and said,

   “Oh really? You can barely handle _one_ of me.”

   “… What is going on.” he interrupted before things could get weirder. With that man, Joker or not, it always would.

   “Mm. Perhaps we should take this elsewhere.” 

   “Oh! I suggest Bat Cave!”

   “And have Nightwing, Batgirl, and Robin take patrol to keep them out of it, good idea Hood.”

   Batman had a feeling he was in for a long night.

~~

Earth 696 - Bat Cave

   “Sorry about the blindfold, Bats-two. Gotta be cautious ya know!” Red-Hood-most-likely-not-Joker called with a trill as he took off Batman’s blindfold. He looked around curiously at the Bat Cave, noting a few differences. Most notably was the lack of Joker’s wing. Also- Scarecrow’s seemed to be bigger.

   “I’m going to need a blood sample to compare with mine. Arm please.” Most-likely-another-Batman requested, waving a small empty vial and needle at him. Wordlessly, he assented and kept a watchful eye as he followed the other man’s movements. After inserting the vial of blood he took another of his own and turned on the machine.

   Red-Hood-not-Joker wheeled over sitting backwards on a chair. After giving it a spin he stopped it by panting his feet down and Batman assumed stared at him.

   “Are your eyes nearly as blue as Bats’, Bats-two?” he suddenly asked.

   Shocked out of words his jaw dropped for a moment before he recovered. “Are you saying you’ve seen my face?”

   Shrugging his red caped shoulders, the man crossed his arms over the top of the chair. The other man appeared to be ignoring their conversation and focusing on the readout on the machines.

   Then he called out, “DNA is a match. That’s … another me.”

   After a sigh, Red-Hood-not-Joker seemed to make up his mind and motioned to take his own mask off. With a soft click and a hiss, the red canister like mask pulled off his head and he set it down on one of the tables beside him.

   He then turned to face Batman, and he had to suppress his instinctual reaction to that face. Skin so pale it was nearly white, acid green hair and eyes, and gruesome scars along his cheeks. Batman also noticed burn marks near the base of his hair line along his neck. The major difference was this man wasn’t smiling.

   “Ah, I see now. The world you’re from… I’m not Red Hood am I?” Red Hood asked in a quiet tone, almost… melancholy. “I broke instead of bending. Let me guess, I normally sound… _More like this ehehehe_?”

   The sound of that cold chuckle and wide smile sent shivers down his spine. He needn’t say anything, Red Hood could read his face. The smile dropped like a stone and his green eyes glistened with heartbreak.

   “Mm. Thought as much.” After a moment he seemed to reclaim his slightly jovial tone, “Well! That’s informative! Hear that Batsy? In another world, I’m insane!”

   The other Batman, for there was no longer any question that he was in another world, (A world where there was a Batman _and_ a Red Hood. A Red Hood who appeared to have everything Joker did, and yet was on the side for good. Who fought side by side with this world’s Batman. Suddenly he was angry. It wasn’t fair.) walked towards them both, pulling his own mask off in the process.

   “The world is made up of choices. A new world, a parallel world, is made with each major choice… where you make the opposite one.” Other Batman paused for a moment, looking deep into Red Hood’s green eyes. “Something Flash mentioned a while back.”

   As one, the two super-heroes of Gotham City turned to him. This Batman spoke first, “So how did you manage to strand yourself here?”

   Remembering his earlier urgency, he tensed again. “I was fighting someone from a darker mirror of my own world. Owlman… a man turned to the life of crime. Or rather… an _us_.

   “He had developed something he called a Phase Oscillator. It could rip the fabric of space and time between worlds, he must have opened one and shoved me through it.”

   Red Hood pouted and muttered with petulance, “That no good dirty copy-cat. I’d been toying with that idea the last couple of months, wonder if I could get mine to work then?”

   Other Batman jerked to look back at Red Hood. “You what?”

   Giving a sheepish shrug and smile, Red Hood took a couple small steps back. “I got bored last time we had a quiet evening! You were working on that jetpack for Robin so I thought I’d work on my own new toy.”

   “A device to _rip holes_ in the fabric of reality is a _new toy_?” other Batman thundered, though not with nearly as much vehemence as he could have.

   Waving a dismissive hand over his caped shoulder, Red Hood made his way over to his work area to look for his blueprints. “Wasn’t like I was gonna use it to take over other worlds, Bats. Relax a little, _Just Batman_.”

   At the dark blush starting to cover other Batman’s face, Batman had a feeling those two words had meaning and history. He started to think this world was madder than any of Mad Hatter’s hallucinations.

   Coughing to try and clear away the tension, he decided he’d try to get some answers while Red Hood was busy. “So. You and Red Hood, explain that one to me. In my world, Hood was a low-time criminal who… after an accident… turned into a man going by The Joker. The less said about his crimes the better.”

   “There’s the difference in our worlds then. Hood was never a criminal, although I made that mistake when I first met him. Scared him and by accident he… fell into a vat of-” he stopped himself before moving on, “a few months later I ran into him again and since then we’ve been working together. I know Hood has his… quirks. But he’s a _good man_.”

   They both turned to look at said man’s back as he shuffled his clustered work space, muttering under his breath. “He keeps me centered. And I think… I keep him sane. We balance each other.”

   “Balance… huh.” Batman muttered wistfully. This was a healthy balance, the one he shared with Joker was more opposite extremes. His heart ached as he saw what _could have been_. This Batman had a sense of peace he knew he’d never accomplish, no matter what he did. He was down right envious of this world. What must it be like, not to have Joker weighing on his conscious?

   “AHA!” Hood’s sudden exclamation brought him out of his depressing introspection, and he blinked to get his barrings.

   “Hmm, yeah I think I can make this work. Didn’t really have a drive for it until now, so that should help.”

   “How long will it take to complete?” Batman hoped it wouldn’t be too long, who knows _what_ Owlman could do in his world if he was left unchecked for long.

   The giant grin he got in return should have unsettled him on that face, but instead it caused him to almost be… jittery. “With _two_ genius Bat-boys helping me? I should be able to complete this in less than a week.”

~~

Earth 696 - Wayne Manor

   Alfred looked at his pocket watch once more to check the time. It was going on nine in the morning. Heaving a weary sigh, he began the long trek into the Bat Cave.

   “Masters Bruce and Jack, you cannot continue to work at this pace and you both know better than-”

   He suddenly stopped at the sight that greeted him. Briefly rubbing a gloved hand over his eyes he looked again. When the sight did not change he wondered if he’d been injected with something. Who knows what crazy villain would try next.

   “Alfred. Sorry, we lost track of time. And we’re in a bit of a rush. Could we take breakfast down here?” Bruce asked him as he stood on one side of Jack. On the _other_ side of Jack, stood _another_ Bruce. That one looked slightly disturbed for he then turned to Jack and questioned,

   “Your name is _Jack_?”


End file.
